


eyes meeting for the first time

by schneefink



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: First Meetings, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:07:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22605976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schneefink/pseuds/schneefink
Summary: Gertrude visits Gerard in prison.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 25
Collections: The Magnus Archives Rare Pairs 2020





	eyes meeting for the first time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [honorarycassowary](https://archiveofourown.org/users/honorarycassowary/gifts).



Gerard Keay was staring at her with narrowed eyes, as if he was searching for something. 

"Do I have something on my face?" Gertrude asked, a hint of irritation in her voice. 

"Nah. You just… don't look like I expected." 

"And what did you expect?"

"From the Archivist? Someone much more closely tied to the Eye, for one." Gerard leaned back in his chair. "High priestess of Magnus' little Institute, aren't you?" 

Gertrude couldn't quite hold back a grimace.

Gerard snorted. "What do you want?"

"What makes you think I want something?"

"Oh please," he scoffed. "You wouldn't be here if you didn't want something. Are you here for my statement?"

"No," Gertrude made herself say. It was even harder than it usually was. She knew that the man in front of her had many rich stories of terror to tell that would feed the Beholding well.

It was somewhat surprising that the Archivist was so eager to feed on Mary's son. She'd never had that desire around Mary herself, who must have even more tales of encounters with Fears, and she'd figured that Mary had found some method of protection. It was strange that she hadn't passed it on to her son. 

On top of that, Gerard was clearly connected by the Eye himself, at least to some degree. The tattoos were not very subtle. Other servants of the Eye she'd met in the past hadn't seemed very appetizing – Gertrude had wondered if it would be like cannibalism, feeding the Eye on one of its own servants.

"Right." Gerard seemed skeptical. "Then why? Did my mum put you up to this?" he asked sarcastically.

"Your father, actually," Gertrude said. Sentimental fool, she scolded herself. She hadn't planned to tell him that.

"My dad?" Gerard looked stunned. "What? How?"

"He asked me to make sure you're alright."

Gerard was lost for words for several long moments. 

When Gertrude had heard that Mary's son had been arrested for her brutal murder, she'd wondered if it'd been a Leitner that had made him do it – maybe one connected to the Slaughter – and she'd thought she might have to find a way to put him down. Removing threats was more important than her promise to Eric, and besides, Eric would have understood. Finding out that Mary had done it to herself in an attempt to complete a ritual was almost a relief, in that regard. 

It hadn't even been surprising that Mary was willing to mutilate herself. She'd always been ambitious and uncompromising. It was a good thing that Gerard hadn't helped her complete the ritual: Gertrude didn't want to know what the results would have been. Likely Mary had tried to make herself immortal by binding herself to a book of the End, but these things were unpredictable. 

"My dad worked for you decades ago," Gerard finally said, his voice flat. "He asked you to make sure I was alright, and you only thought to check on me now?" 

Gertrude had no intention of telling him that she'd spoken to his father just a few months ago. "Now seemed like a good moment." She pointedly looked at the grey prison walls.

"Hah. I'm probably safer here than I've been… ever. Sure, some of Them could easily reach me – it gets pretty dark here at night – but there's no reason why they would. And my mum can't get to me anymore. I'm doing fine."

She decided not to dwell on that. "Speaking of your mother," she began.

He snorted. "I knew it."

"The police took the book of the dead. I went in later and secured all the Leitners I could find. Is there anything else that should be taken care of?"

"Oh. …no, I don't think so. She was pretty much exclusively interested in books, not other artefacts. As far as I know, they were all either out in the open or behind normal locks. I'm sure you could handle those."

"I thought so, but it's good to be certain. What's going to happen to the shop? Considering…"

"Considering that I might not get out of here? Yeah, I know. I don't even care very much. Maybe you should burn it all down. Would be safer that way." 

"Mm," she said noncommittally. Safer, yes, but it would be a shame to destroy all that knowledge. 

Judging from the cynical way Gerard looked at her, he knew what she was thinking. 

"If Mary comes back," Gertrude said, and Gerard suppressed a flinch. "Let me know."

"Do you think she might have succeeded after all?" His shoulders curled forward. 

Briefly, Gertrude hesitated. She had no real clues to go on; just a bad feeling and the fact that both Mary and Leitners often provided unpleasant surprises. "Probably not. She didn't finish skinning herself before she died."

"Good." Gerard wasn't looking at her.

"I can deal with her." And she would. If Mary managed to bind herself to a Leitner, she was too dangerous to ignore any longer. For decades, Gertrude had not investigated Eric's death closely, nor some of the other suspicious deaths in Mary's vicinity, for a variety of reasons that when examined weren't sufficient. She shouldn't let herself be influenced by sentimentality, but it was hard to deny that she'd have looked more closely at the actions of a stranger. 

"Out of the goodness of your heart."

"She's dangerous."

"I know that. But you're Gertrude Robinson. I haven't heard of you doing a favor without asking for something in return."

Gertrude raised her eyebrows and resisted the urge to ask what stories he'd heard. It was always good to know what one's reputation was.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that. And if it does, I'm sure we can think of something." His apparent ability to somehow perceive connections between people and Entities was potentially very useful. 

Gerard leaned back in his chair and nodded in resignation. "Sure."

"Well then." Gertrude stood up. "It's been nice meeting you, Gerard."

"Yeah. I'm sure you'll See me again."

Gertrude hoped for his sake that she wouldn't.


End file.
